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Such is the case with many gun control advocates, and with former NYC Mayor Bloomberg in particular. Picking up where groups like the "National Coalition to Ban Handguns" left off, he first established "Mayors Against Illegal Guns". After a largely unproductive 2013, in which the Colorado lawmakers who served as his agents were quickly recalled, and in which the organization lost many of it's mayor members when they figured out the organization was really about making guns illegal - not going after criminals and crime guns - Mayor Bloomberg decided that it was time for a change.
He first started "Mom's Demand Action" - that's right, a male billionaire decided to start an "Astroturf" women's group. However, in spite of all his money, the organization has struggled to get going. Perhaps the fact that gun ownership is quickly rising among women has something to do with the slow start.......
Now he has started another phony "grass roots" organization: Every Town For Gun Safety. Now, what could possibly be wrong with a group with "gun safety" in it's name? Actually, quite a bit if the real goal is not to promote the safe use and storage of firearms - but instead to make it as hard as possible to own a firearm.
Those of us who live in California know all about this. Twenty plus years ago, we were sold a bill of goods labeled the "Safe Handgun List". Now our anti-gun rights attorney general is using that law, with a few amendments, to basically ban all semi-auto handguns from the state.
The common thread is that when public opinion is against gun bans and against gun control, they will listen and maybe even support many of the same measures if you call them "gun safety" laws. After all who could possibly oppose gun safety?
Of course, it's still the same organization - following links to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns website results in a redirect to the Every Town for Gun Safety site. It's also the same tactics. They kicked things off with this disgusting video:
In addition to showing horribly unsafe behavior by children (which other kids may imitate), it tries to create the impression that there is a crisis with huge numbers of children finding improperly stored firearms and killing each other with them. Of course, this is a complete lie.
First, we have to gain some perspective. Just how common are firearms accidents among children? How does the risk from firearms compare to other risks?
So, are firearms a common way children are accidentally killed? Thank God, the answer to that question is NO.
Are firearms accidents involving children under 14 on the rise, or are they falling? Answer: They are dropping like a rock.
From the National Safety Council: "Unintentional firearms deaths also declined in 2007 for the second year in a row, falling to a new record low." Nationwide, the annual number of fatal firearm accidents among children has decreased 89% since 1975. The rate of fatal accidents involving children is less than TWO PER ONE MILLION HOUSEHOLDS in which both firearms and children are present. 1
In the United States since 1930: The population has more than DOUBLED - the number of privately owned firearms has more than QUINTUPLED - and the annual number of accidental firearms deaths has DECREASED 80% The fatal firearm accident rate has fallen to a new all-time LOW — down 94% since the all-time high recorded in 1904.
"But I heard that the firearms death rate among children was much, much higher." I am sure you did. Gun control groups boost their figures by including people up to age 18 and in one case, age 25 in their "child gun death" figures. They also include homicides, suicides and even young gang-bangers shot by each other or cops in their totals. Of course, Bloomberg's organization recently got caught including one of the Boston bombers as a "victim of gun violence" - he was shot by police.
These facts that can be confirmed by consulting sources like the National Safety Council, the ATF and the Department of Justice. WHILE ONE ACCIDENTAL DEATH IS ONE TOO MANY, THERE IS NO GUN SAFETY CRISIS - FATAL GUN ACCIDENTS HAVE DROPPED DRAMATICALLY IN RECENT YEARS. Bloomberg is attempting to deceive you.
The next question is: What happened to cause this amazing increase in gun safety? The answer is simple: The NRA happened.
Yep, the NRA has been working hard on the gun safety issue for decades - long before there was a national gun law debate. Their thousands of instructors and safety officers (of which I am one) work hard to teach gun safety. The NRA's rules (insert link) are used in every hunter safety course and by every police force. They are distributed with every firearm sold in the US. They are even used as the basis for the safety test the State of California requires me to pass before I am allowed to legally buy a gun. Even honest critics of the NRA's stand on gun laws - be they to the right or the left of the organization - will concede that the NRA has done an outstanding job of promoting gun safety.
So, what does the NRA have to say about gun storage?
"Store guns so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons."
"Many factors must be considered when deciding where and how to store guns. A person's particular situation will be a major part of the consideration. Dozens of gun storage devices, as well as locking devices that attach directly to the gun, are available. However, mechanical locking devices, like the mechanical safeties built into guns, can fail and should not be used as a substitute for safe gun handling and the observance of all gun safety rules."
Does sound like the NRA is in favor of leaving loaded guns laying around where kids can find them? Of course not! The NRA promotes safe storage of firearms - and has done so for decades.
More than this, since 1988, the NRA has run a program that teaches kids what to do if they DO run across an improperly secured firearm. The Eddie Eagle program has taught 18 million kids four simple things to do if they find a gun: STOP! Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult.
Check out this video:
This program does not promote firearms or teach anything about their use. It is 100% dedicated to decreasing the chance that a child finding an improperly stored or abandoned firearm will hurt themselves or others with it. It has been adopted by hundreds of school districts across the country.
So, who in the world could be opposed to this?
Gun control groups, of course! Such as the Brady organization and Violence Policy Center - both of which have spoken out against it. Now, these very same people - funded by Bloomberg - are trying to sell unconstitutional gun control laws by calling them "gun safety" laws.
Why are they doing this? Well, first (in the 1970-80s) they were really honest about their goals. They wanted to ban guns and said so up front. They lost that argument in both the Supreme Court and the court of public opinion. Then they presented themselves as gun "control" organizations (1990-2013) - while still working to ban guns. When the public realized that none of the proposed measures would have stopped ANY of the 2012 shooting incidents, they wanted nothing to do with their gun bans. So now they want you to believe that they are not a GUN BAN organization, they are not a GUN CONTROL organization, they are now simply a "GUN SAFETY" organization.
Excuse me if I don't believe them. I have been watching these organizations for over 40 years and the most common characteristic among them is dishonesty. It's too bad that 50 Million Dollars can fund so many lies.....
1 - Accidental child gun deaths computed as follows: Number of gun owning households, according to polls = 39% (http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/09/Poll-Household-Gun-Ownership-On-Rise) This is likely under reported by at least 6-12%: (See http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/guns-present-polling-conundrum-1223/) So let's assume an actual rate of 45% of households owning guns.
The number of households in 2007 was approximately 211,000,000. In 2010, 28.3% of households had children. Since these figures likely include children up to age 18, let's adjust them downward to compensate. Thus we come up with an estimate that 22% of US households have children age 0-14 years. So, our final figure for gun owning households with children under 14 is 20,889,000
So, in 2007, the fatal firearms accident rate among gun owning households is 40/20889000 or less than two fatalities per million gun owning households with children.
Additional sources:
National Safety Council http://www.nsc.org/Documents/Injury_Facts/Injury_Facts_2011_w.pdf
Fact sheet with sources:
http://www.shootata.com/portals/0/pdf/FIREARMS_ACCIDENTFACTS_USF2007.pdf
Gun control groups opposing the Eddie Eagle program:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-helmke/nras-eddie-eagle-doesnt-f_b_572285.html
http://www.vpc.org/studies/eddiecon.htm
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